WWE Smackdown review
August 17, 2012
Taped 8/14/12 in Austin, TX.
Aired on SYFY
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- A video package aired profiling Alberto Del Rio and his feud with Sheamus thus far. They also aired Booker’s WWE.com exclusive interview proclaiming Del Rio out of the Summerslam title match.

- In the arena at the University of Texas, ADR’s music immediately hit, and he walked out with Ricardo Rodriguez. Michael Cole and Josh Mathews were shown on commentary as well. Del Rio on the mic ran down Sheamus, claiming it was Sheamus who cried to Booker about getting him booted out of the title match. Booker T. apparently had heard enough already, and his music interrupted Del Rio’s interview.

Del Rio said Sheamus messed with his property so he made him pay, which is what a real man does. Booker said a “real man” doesn’t hire five goons to beat up one guy. Del Rio said he spoke with his lawyers, but before he could give the result of that skull session, Chris Jericho’s theme hit and he walked out in jeans and a t-shirt.

Jericho made fun of Del Rio’s complaining and even spoke Spanish to Del Rio. He translated to English, telling the fans he said Del Rio’s breath smells like dog poop. Man, the promos that heel Jericho would cut on babyface Jericho. Jericho said he just might take Del Rio’s spot in the title match after beating Dolph Ziggler at Summerslam. Booker interjected, saying Sheamus will not be competing at Summerslam, presumably due to last week’s attack. Before addressing that situation further, Booker made a match for tonight: For the first time ever on Smackdown, Jericho vs. Del Rio. It was another one of those “we want this main event, but how do we get there?” segments where Jericho had a pretty flimsy reason to interrupt only to be then put in a match.

- Tonight, we’ll get the latest on the injuries suffered by Shawn Michaels at the hands of Brock Lesnar on Raw.

- Next, Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes & The Miz.

[Commercial Break]

1 – REY MYSTERIO & SIN CARA vs. THE MIZ & CODY RHODES

Rhodes cut a promo on the way to the ring, continuing the narrative that Cara is ugly under the mask. Rhodes presented “Sin Cara: nmasked,” which was a drawing of an ugly guy with huge teeth and ears. “Ugly as sin,” said Rhodes to end the promo.

Rey and Cara wasted no time flying outside the ring on both Rhodes and Miz. Rhodes got the better of Cara in the ring, dropping Cara with a face-first suplex. During his attack, Rhodes went after Cara’s mask on numerous occasions. Cara came back and tagged Rey. Miz broke up a pin attempt, but Cara took Miz down with a headscissors, then both went tumbling over the top rope. As Cara tried to skin the cat, Rhodes grabbed the mask and almost pulled it off. But Rey hit the 619 on Cody, then a splash off the top for the win.

WINNERS: Cara and Mysterio, at 4:21. I really liked that finishing sequence, from Cara trying to skin the cat to Cody trying to unmask him, but being vulnerable to the 619.

After the match, Miz tried to attack Mysterio with the Intercontinental Title. Rey saw it coming though and hit Miz with the 619. He held the IC Title over his head outside the ring, where Miz had dropped it.

- Still to come tonight, Randy Orton takes on Daniel Bryan in one-on-one action.

[Commercial Break]

- Mathews plugged the United States Title match between Santino Marella and Antonio Cesaro that will take place on the Summerslam pre-show.

- Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins were announced for a match, but they came to the ring where suits. They had black jackets and red button-up shirts. Reks demanded music be played and they danced and did some stripping. They’ve alluded to Reks being a stripper previously on the show, I believe.

2 – TYLER REKS & CURT HAWKINS vs. TWO JOBBERS

Hawkins and Reks both wore tights that looked like briefs. Reks with a hip-toss to the jobber, who tagged in his partner. Some double-teaming by the heels. Powerslam by Hawkins, followed by some gyrating. Double-team neck-breaker finisher for the win.

WINNERS: Reks and Hawkins, at 1:37. At least they have a gimmick now instead of “two guys who always wrestle on Superstars.”

- We’ll get a replay of what happened on Monday between Brock Lesnar and Shawn Michaels.

[Commercial Break]

- The announcers talked about the WWE Championship match slated for Summerslam. They also aired a video package previewing the match as well as profiling Punk’s title reign.

- Eve Torres was walking backstage. She ran into William Regal, who wished her luck. Regal reminisced about when he was in charge of Raw. A woman then walked up to Regal and reminded him to take out the trash. She handed him two garbage bags. “Well…work is work, isn’t it?” Regal remarked to Eve. Eve vs. Kaitlyn is next.

[Commercial Break]

- Another Wade Barrett vignette aired.

- Teddy Long was at ringside for the next match.

3 – KAITLYN vs. EVE TORRES – WINNER DECLARED BOOKER T.’S ASSISTANT

Seems a little of demeaning to have women fight over the opportunity to be an assistant. During Kaitlyn’s intro, they replayed part of the tag match from Raw. Eve slapped Kaitlyn, then gave her a waist-lock take-down. Back body-drop by Kaitlyn, in which Eve seemed to lose control of her limbs as she flipped over Kaitlyn. Inside cradle by Kaitlyn for only two. Eve booted Kaitlyn down on a charge, but Kaitlyn went to the top rope. Eve pulled her down by the arm and gave her a neck-breaker for three.

WINNER: Eve, at 2:16. If Booker and Teddy didn’t want Eve in the cabinet, why even give her the opportunity? Speaking of “opportunity,” WWE once again passed up the opportunity to do something with Kaitlyn.

- Up next, Randy Orton faces Daniel Bryan.

[Commercial Break]

- Booker was backstage on his phone when Eve walked in, bottle of water in hand. She wanted to help Booker out with some ideas to improve Smackdown. Booker stopped her and said to run her ideas by Teddy Long. Eve said she was going to shower up and then be at Booker’s disposal as far as getting to work. That was strange…you’d think a heel like Eve would rub it in Booker’s face that she won.

4 – DANIEL BRYAN vs. RANDY ORTON

Shoulder take-down by Orton to start. Another, and Bryan again retreated to the corner. Bryan caught a dropkick in the mush for a one-count. To the outside went Bryan, where he once again went back-and-forth, “yes” and “no” with a fan. He charged back into the ring only to be on the receiving end of a back body-drop. Orton seemed to injure his knee though, and Bryan began to target lame limb. Orton would momentarily shine, but Bryan would cut him down by going after the leg and knee again. Orton crotched Bryan on the top rope and went up to meet him. Superplex off the top, which took some gas out of Orton as well. After a pin attempt for two, they went to break 4:56 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

They returned 8:26 into the match. Orton and Bryan were hammering away at each other in the middle of the ring, but Bryan got the advantage by picking the ankle and taking out the leg once again. Bryan dove at Orton in the corner, but ended up going shoulder-first into the ring post. Orton began his comeback at 9:45 of the contest. Outside the ring, Bryan was whipped into the barricade. Bryan suckered Orton to the other side of the ring and sent Orton into the steel steps. Orton again came back, this time with a different array of moves. Back-breaker for two. Bryan again found himself sitting atop the top rope, only for Orton to give him his patented DDT. RKO attempt, but Bryan countered and went for the No Lock. Orton stayed on his feet until Bryan stuck his foot into the back of Orton’s knee. No Lock was locked in. However, Kane’s pyro shot off from the corner ring posts and his music began to play. Bryan broke the hold and fled the ring. There was no sign of Kane and everything went back to normal. Bryan re-entered the ring and Orton struck with the RKO.

WINNER: Orton, at 14:17. The re-build of Orton continues, and Bryan didn’t lose much by losing here due to the distraction.

After the match, Kane did walk out and stared at Bryan, who was still recovering from the RKO.

- Still to come, Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio.

[Commercial Break]

- Mathews plugged WWE.com and the Summerslam theme, “Don’t Give Up,” performed by Kevin Rudolf.

- Santino Marella was at ringside to do guest commentary for the next match.

- Antonio Cesaro and Aksana did their now-common “five different languages” spiel on the mic. This week’s phrase was “loser,” directed at Santino.

5 – ANTONIO CESARO vs. ZACK RYDER

Cesaro dominated the opening of the match, but Ryder sent Cesaro into the mat face-first to turn the tide. He set up for the Broski Boot and connected. Pin attempt for only two. Cesaro took back over and gave Ryder his finisher for the win.

WINNER: Cesaro, at 1:31. A little surprised they even bothered to hype the pre-show match, but it has been an ongoing Smackdown issue for a few weeks now.

After the match, Cesaro went right over to Marella and pie-faced him. Then he tossed Santino over the announce table. I like that he didn’t just casually go to Santino and was like “oops!” when doing it. He clearly went over to Santino to assault him.

- Next, the graphic said it was “the perfect storm” on Raw when Brock Lesnar attacked Shawn Michaels. Not 100% sure how that phrase applies, but we’ll see the clips of it next.

[Commercial Break]

- The exterior of the arena at the University of Texas was shown.

- The Brock Lesnar-Triple H feud was chronicled in video package form.

- After a graphic for Lesnar vs. Triple H, Cole updated us on the condition of Shawn Michaels. Michaels has a broken arm among other minor injuries. Michaels also Tweeted that it was “highly unlikely” he’d be at Summerslam.

- Several Tweets from the WWE Universe and WWE Superstars were shown, reacting to Lesnar’s actions.

- Ricardo Rodriguez introduced Alberto Del Rio.

- Chris Jericho was walking backstage with an exaggerated grin on his face. He’ll be out next to face Del Rio…or maybe not as Dolph Ziggler attacked him from behind with the MITB briefcase, then rammed a metal cart into Jericho. After some trash talk, Booker shooed Ziggler away and ordered for a trainer.

[Commercial Break]

- A replay of the attack before the break aired.

- In the ring, Del Rio took the mic and taunted Jericho. He pronounced himself the winner by forfeit. Well, actually Rodriguez did that. Del Rio the demanded Booker give him his Summerslam match. Instead, Jericho’s music hit and he walked out, holding his ribs.

6 – ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. CHRIS JERICHO

Jericho had to convince referee Scott Armstrong that he was okay to wrestle. Kick to the mid-section by Del Rio, then a quick cover. He whipped Jericho sternum-first into the ring post, then followed it up with a double stomp. Cover for two at :51. Jericho chopped at Del Rio, but a knee-lift again put Jericho down. Enziguiri out of nowhere by Jericho. Cole and Mathews argued about Jericho’s in-ring record. Del Rio flipped Jericho to the apron, then knocked him to ringside into the announce table. They went to break 2:39 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:33 with Del Rio firmly in control of the match. Tilt-a-whirl back-breaker for a near-fall. Del Rio kicked Jericho in the stomach again in the corner. Cover got two. Jericho attempted to fight back, and did so briefly. His ribs were pink from being worked over so much. Lionsault, but of course, that injured the ribs even more. Jericho tried the Walls of Jericho, and he hooked it in. Del Rio turned to his back and punched at Jericho’s ribs. Dolph Ziggler came out and pulled the ropes down, causing Jericho to fall to ringside. The ref didn’t see it. Jericho was thrown back into the ring, where Del Rio gave Jericho a seated enziguri for the win.

WINNER: Del Rio, at 9:09.

After the match, Del Rio locked Jericho in the cross arm-breaker. Sheamus ran to the ring and tackled Del Rio, then pounded away on him. Del Rio kicked at the heavily taped arm of Sheamus, but when Sheamus showed signs of coming back, Rodriguez and Del Rio high-tailed it through the crowd. As Sheamus checked on Jericho, Booker came out. Sheamus asked Booker to reinstate his match with Del Rio at Summerslam. Booker said Sheamus is injured and he can’t do that. Sheamus said you’ll have to rip his arm off his body, and it still won’t stop him from competing. He asked again for Booker to reinstate the match. Sheamus accepted the terms that the World Title would be on the line. Booker reluctantly granted the match. Both Sheamus and Del Rio were pleased to end the show.


What do you think? If you saw this show, we invite you to send your thoughts. Send your name, hometown, a 0-10 score rating the quality of the show, your picks for best and worst segments, and then a brief paragraph of thoughts on the show that we can publish in the Reader Reax segment later tonight or tomorrow. Send to pwtorch@gmail.com.

Greg Parks has been covering WWE Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. Follow him on Twitter @gregmparks for live Tweeting during Raw, Impact, and PPVs, as well as other bits of wisdom. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/1: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Kevin Owens vs. Ryback in an Intercontinental Title Match

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9/24: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Kevin Owens & Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler & Ryback

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9/17: Ongoing coverage of the Thursday night show, including Seth Rollins & Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns